As news spreads of the announcement of an East Wheatland school to serve communities in Standard, Hussar, Gleichen and Rockyford, so does reaction from parents.
    Last week the Alberta government and Golden Hills School Division announced two new schools; one in Three Hills and one in East Wheatland.
    After years of discussion, planning, and consulting, all in the face of declining numbers and aging facilities, families in East Wheatland learned of a new centralized school, planned to be located near the intersection of Highway 840 and Highway 561.
    Some were overjoyed.
    “It is absolutely fantastic, it is the best news I have heard in 20 years,” said Clay Armstrong of Hussar.
    Armstrong has been involved over the last 10 years to come up with a solution for schooling in the area. He has two children in the school system.
    “We will support this thing 110 per cent when the doors open,” he said, adding he feels many others will follow suit. Depending on when the school opens, there will be students in the twilight of their high school career who would opt not to change schools.
    “The only ones that might not (attend) are the ones in their Grade 11 or 12 year when the school is completed, depending on how the courses line up,” he said.
    Over the last few years there has been a drain from area schools as students and parents have arranged for the students to attend other schools in different communities. Superintendent Bevan Daverne has seen this trend changing.
    “I think things will be okay. Even this year with the work that had happened last year and the proposal that came forward and the board’s support, we saw a shift in that part of our district. For the first time in a long time, we did not have a decline in enrollment in East Wheatland from last year to this year. I think the reason for that is they found the process very hopeful.”
    The working group bears a big responsibility in making this a reality.
    “They did a fantastic job of engaging more broadly with parents across  all the communities. Their eventual recommended proposal to consolidate all the schools and look at location, made a new school possible,” said Daverne.
    He said the solution might be something that shapes future policy.
    “This could be a model for what could be a solution for rural sustainability in general across the province,” said Daverne.
    Mark Skibsted of the Rosebud area feels while the development is positive, it might not be ideal.
    “It’s been a long time coming. It’s positive we needed a school in a bad way,” said Skibsted. “The location is okay, it seems to work for everybody.”
    Despite this, he still feels the optimal solution would have been to have the school within a community.
    “I am nervous for the kids because at lunch time or for activities, they have to get into a vehicle to go somewhere. I was hoping it was in a town.  I don’t care if it was Standard, Hussar or Rockyford, as long as it was in a town, then kids could walk downtown to get a bite to eat or whatever. Now if they want to have some curling or ice opportunities, they have to get on a bus.”
    With or without the changes, one constant he hopes for is the high quality of teaching that his children are accustomed.
    “There are some really good teachers who actually care. If they move onto the new school I’ll be a very happy camper,” said Skibsted.
    Daverne said they are waiting for the financial part of the announcement, and then they can begin planning. The next step is for county council to approve a re-zoning of the parcel of land to develop the school.    
    Armstrong says now is the time to be vigilant.
    “Now is the time to support our county councillors because a lot of time all you hear is the negativity. The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” said Armstrong. “The provincial government has said ‘this is a good idea, and now here’s the money.’ Everybody should get behind it.”

    A myriad of emotions were tapped on Saturday as young and old marched to celebrate and remember.
    After years of hard work, the Miners' Memorial was dedicated. While it has taken about three years to get to this point, Linda Digby of the Atlas Coal Mine said there have been people waiting the better part of a century to see something in place to honour the men.
    An emotional walk from the Badlands Community Facility to the new Memorial saw incredible participation as miners and families of miners past gathered to dedicate the park.
    “We join with communities throughout the world where similarly miners have lost their lives and engage in the work today. These names, now etched in stone, even as they are fixed forever in the hearts of those who knew them best and loved them most, are woven into the very fabric of life here in the Drumheller Valley,” said Rev. Jan Richardson at the dedication.
    One of the main drivers of the memorial was Olga Skrlik, whose young husband John Myers and his brother died in one of the most terrible accidents in Drumheller mine history. She was on hand to take part in the ceremony.
    “This has finally come full circle,” she said.  “I wanted this so much for John’s sons and grandchildren. He is not here, they never got to know him, but his name will always be here.”
    The Rosebud Men’s Choir performed at the event, and renowned photographer Lawrence Chrismas read the honour roll of the 207 men whose names now appear on the Memorial. Artist and former miner Marcel Deschenes was commissioned to create a mural to go along side the memorial in the park beside what will soon be the Drumheller Town Hall. It was unveiled by the hands of miners on Saturday as well.
    The official dedication was complete when families of the fallen miners christened the memorial with coal.
    “We began researching the names about three years ago," recalled Digby. “When staff and volunteers dug into archives and records, we noticed some men who perished in our coal field left a large circle of family behind to mourn them, while others, many who crossed the ocean on their own, simply disappeared from the family record. After their brothers from the mine, who gathered to pay their last respects to these men, there was no family there to place a stone on their grave. Today we recall all of them.”

Miners and family members of miners participated in the May Day Mach on Saturday to the dedication of the Miners Memorial, led by piper Dave Daly.

A mural by Marcel Deschenes was unveiled during the Miners’ Memorial dedication on Saturday.

Families placed a piece of coal on the Miners Memorial on Saturday to remember a fallen family member and to dedicate the monument in downtown Drumheller.